New Year's Eve is no longer in mind for many court officials. They are all waiting for the five-day New Year holiday to start at noon. Most of them spend the last day of the first year of Yanzai in groups of three or five gatherings and chats.

But something unexpected happened unexpectedly. The emperor issued an imperial edict to remove the position of Censor Wang Hongyi for the crime of deceiving the emperor and disobeying the emperor, exiled to Lingnan, and at the same time he removed Xue Huaiyi from his position as the general of the Right Guard. This imperial edict shocked the court and the public like a bombshell.

Yesterday, Wang Hongyi impeached Li Zhen, the deputy commander of the Inner Guard, in the morning court, to kill innocent people. However, only one day later, Wang Hongyi was dismissed from office and punished, and Xue Huaiyi was also punished. This imperial edict made countless people wake up as if they were dreaming. They gathered together to discuss the matter. Countless people were happy. Xue Huaiyi, who had been arrogant for ten years, was finally about to come to an end.

In the office of the Menxia Provincial Government, Su Weidao hid a bottle of wine under her armpit and sneaked into Li Dezhao's official room. Her face was as if it was blooming, "Li Xiangguo, have you heard the news!"

Li Dezhao narrowed his old eyes like a hundred-year-old turtle. He noticed the bulging part of Su Weitan's armpit and asked with a smile: "Does Su Xiangguo want to have a drink with me?"

Su Wei Dao took out the wine and laughed: "Tomorrow is New Year. I will first wish Li Xiang a few glasses of wine to celebrate the New Year."

Both of them laughed tacitly. Li Dezhao asked the Shutong to bring the wine glass. They sat down at the small table. Li Dezhao picked up the wine pot and looked at it, and said, "It's Jinshi Hong. This wine is good. I often drink this kind of wine at home. It is said that even the emperor praised it."

Su Weidao filled him with a glass of wine, and asked carefully: "How do you think of Li Xiang's decree today? The result came out just one day, which is difficult for many people to understand!"

“What’s hard to understand?”

Li Dezhao sneered and said, "I can only say that Wang Hongyi is too stupid and eager to protect the Lord, and actually impeach the inner guard. Don't he know that the inner guard is likely to be executing the secret order of the priest?"

"Yes! I can't understand it either. Wang Hongyi didn't even have the minimum awareness. How did he get into the Censorate?" Su Wei Dao also drank a glass of wine and sighed.

"It's not that he has no enlightenment, but he doesn't believe that the emperor will touch Xue Huaiyi. He thought that as before, anyone touched Xue Huaiyi would touch the tiger's butt, so he didn't even ask for instructions from his master, so he jumped out in a hurry. Who would die if he didn't die?"

Li Dezhao's wrinkled face was full of contempt. He was famous for his great wine in the court. He only drank a glass of wine. Li Dezhao's neck was red, like a cooked prawn, and he was a little unconsidered when he spoke.

"But the Supreme Master's removal from Xue Huaiyi's Right Guard General was beyond my expectations. I thought she would be relieved of Xue Huaiyi's position as the chief general of Longyoudao. It seems that the Supreme Master also knows that Xue Huaiyi has a bad idea!"

Li Dezhao's words made Su Wei's face pale. He quickly got up and closed the door, and came back and asked in a low voice: "I heard that there are tens of thousands of monks in the White Horse Temple. Is this rumor true?"

"There is no wind and waves, come on! Drink, drink, we won't talk about this."

......

In the imperial study room, Princess Taiping was diligently organizing the piles of melodies for her mother, while chatting about family matters with her mother casually.

"Tomorrow is New Year, why doesn't my mother want to go out for a walk?"

"I originally planned to go to Fengshan Mountain in Songshan, but after winter this year, my health was not very good and my whole body was sore, so I had to postpone it until next year. Ling Yue, why did you think of asking about this?"

Wu Zetian loved this young daughter very much and thought that she looked like herself, very capable, had vision and courage. She even had the idea of ​​passing the throne to her daughter, but she also thought this idea was a bit ridiculous and stopped mentioning it, but she didn't know that her daughter engraved it in her heart when she said something unintentional to her a few years ago.

Princess Taiping sighed, "Actually, I want to persuade my mother to go out for a walk, so as to relax and create opportunities to ease the conflicts within the Wu family."

Wu Zetian's face immediately became severe, and his eyes stared at his daughter sharply, "Why do you say that?"

Princess Taiping knelt down, "My daughter dared not hide it from her mother. My daughter heard from the prince-consort that the prince-consort publicly insulted the King of Wei at the party of the clan. The prince-consort said a few fair words for the King of Wei, but was beaten by the King of Liang and scolded him..."

"What are you scolding him?" Wu Zetian also had anger in her eyes. She also heard that Wu Sansi had organized tribe gatherings many times on the pretext of clan sacrifice, took the opportunity to win over his confidants and suppress dissidents, and made the Wu clan a mess, which really made Wu Zetian dissatisfied.

"Daughter dare not say it..."

"explain!"

Princess Taiping said tremblingly: "He called the prince consort the king of Wei. In fact, the prince consort never dated the king of Wei, so he was beaten torture."

Princess Taiping knew her mother very well. She knew what to say and what not to say. Although the words she said seemed to be provoking the relationship between the Wu family, as long as she did not mention the Li family royal family, as long as she did not mention the two brothers Li Xian and Li Dan, she would not violate her mother's taboo.

Instead, the mother would think that she had completely regarded herself as the wife of the Wu family and was complaining for her husband.

Princess Taiping not only took Wu Furong's Night Pearl, but also had a deeper consideration. Wu Sansi and Shangguan Wan'er were too close. She needed to use Wu Chengsi to weaken Wu Sansi's power, and use the contradiction between Wu Chengsi and Wu Sansi to divide the Wu family, so as to capture some of the forces of the Wu family into her own hands.

Rescuing Wu Chengsi from imprisonment was her best opportunity to win over the Wu power.

Princess Taiping knew very well that if she directly proposed to release Wu Chengsi, her mother might not agree, but if she hinted around and reminded her mother to pay attention to the balance within the Wu family, her mother might think of Wu Chengsi's role.

Wu Zetian was upset by her daughter's words. She walked slowly to the window with her hands behind her back and stared at the Fengding of Mingtang in the distance for a long time.

Of course she knew that there were many conflicts within the Wu family. At first, she was in trouble for the unfairness of the franchise and rewards. Later, she gradually divided into two factions, King Wei and King Liang, and finally calmed down because of the balance of power.

Now that the King of Wei is imprisoned, King Liang is starting to cause trouble again, causing the already calm Wu family to fall into tranquility. Can it be really only by releasing the King of Wei to calm the disputes within the Wu family?

Wu Zetian sighed, tomorrow is the New Year, so let him go back to celebrate the New Year!

At this moment, Wu Zetian suddenly woke up, looked back at his daughter, and said coldly: "Lingyue, come and plead for Wu Chengsi!"

Princess Taiping was shocked. Her mother saw through her mind. She hurriedly said: "Mother, it is absolutely true that the prince consort was injured by King Liang. My daughter dared not deceive her mother. It was not... it was not pleading for the King of Wei..."

Speaking of the latter, she felt guilty and couldn't continue to say anything. Wu Zetian sat back on her seat, stared at her for a moment, and said lightly: "It's nothing wrong with you pleading for Wu Chengsi, I can agree, but you have shown some things that make me unsatisfied."

Princess Taiping lowered her head and did not dare to say anything more. Wu Zetian picked up the report of Li Yuan, Dali Qing on the table, flipped it slightly, and looked at her meaningfully and said: "It is also an inner guard. One deputy commander defeated Wei Shifang and wiped out the evil monks of the White Horse Temple. She was extremely courageous, but the other deputy commander did nothing. Ling Yue, the person you recommend is not effective!"

Princess Taiping immediately understood her mother's hint, hoping that she would make achievements in Xue Huaiyi's affairs and not let Shangguan Wan'er seize all the credit.

She didn't want to ask about Xue Huaiyi anymore, and gave in to Shangguan Wan'er on this matter, but her mother's hint made her seem to see hope again, and her heart began to liven up again. Where should she start?

......

Just as Princess Taiping cleaned up the room for her mother, Shangguan Wan'er also reviewed the memorials sent by Wu Zetian in her official room.

The end of the year and the beginning of the year are also her busiest moments. Every day, there are piles of songs delivered. At this time, Xiao E whispered at the door: "Girl, Doctor Shen is here!"

"Please come in!"

After a moment, Shen Nanmiao walked in quickly, bowed and said, "See the servant!"

Shen Nanmiao was Shangguan Wan'er's grandfather Shangguan Yi introduced him to the palace as an imperial physician. Twenty years passed in a flash, but Shen Nanmiao always remembered Shangguan Yi's kindness of knowing each other, so it is generally believed in the palace that Shen Nanmiao was Shangguan Wan'er's person.

Shangguan Wan'er put down her pen, picked up a New Year's on duty list and asked, "Last time you told me that you were on duty tonight's New Year's Eve, but this list is not. What's going on?"

"Reporting to the shepherd, I was on duty, but Doctor Wang said that he had something to do in the third year of junior high school and wanted to change with me, so I changed with him. I was on duty in the third year of junior high school."

Shangguan Wan'er's face turned gloomy, "Why don't you tell me such an important thing?"

"This... I don't know that it's important to be on duty tonight. If the servant thinks it's inappropriate, I'll just change it back."

Shangguan Wan'er drew the list again and handed it to him and said, "Today is very important, you must be on duty, otherwise I will send someone to your house to find you."

Shen Nanmiao took the list and said in panic: "I'll get it back now!"

Shangguan Wan'er's face cleared a little, and she said slowly: "Have you considered what I told you last time?"

Shen Nanmiao lowered his head and said for a while: "I'm humble in my position... I've thought about it."

Shangguan Wan'er nodded with a smile, "Many things need opportunities. Seize opportunities and you can reach the top overnight. If you let opportunities slip away from your fingers, then you will be an unknown little imperial doctor for the rest of your life. Do you understand?"

"I understand!"

"Okay, go back! Remember to call back the list."

Shen Nanmiao bowed and retreated with great worries. Shangguan Wan'er had no intention of reviewing the memorial again. She put down her pen and came to the window with her hands behind her back. She stared at the polo court in the distance. She suddenly remembered Li Zhen, wondering how he celebrated New Year's Eve tonight?

.........

Although the court officials had to attend court for a long time on New Year's Eve, the New Year's vacation was already the beginning of ordinary people.

In addition to tree poles, door gods, preparing chicken, duck, fish, and tusu wine, many people also have to go to the temple to fulfill their vows on New Year's Eve, return the wishes they made in this year in front of the Buddha, and then welcome the new year with ease.

Li Zhen had nothing to do today. He went to the Imperial City Guard Office early in the morning and handed over the transfer of Jiuzhi and Zhang Li to the Chief Cui Shaoying. Li Zhen returned home. He had already agreed to accompany his eldest sister to the Pure Land Temple to fulfill his vow today.

"Why don't my sister go to Hongfa Temple?"

Li Zhen asked with a smile: "Hongfa Temple is right next to Nanshi City, and it is not small in scale. But my eldest sister insists on going to Jingtu Temple. Is it because of Aunt Meng?"

Li Quan's face darkened and said angrily: "Don't mention her to me, I'm so angry when I mention her."

"What's wrong? Are you quarreling again?"

In Li Zhen's memory, the relationship between the eldest sister's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been very tense, and she has to quarrel every now and then. She used to quarrel with herself for money, but now her family is well-off. Why do they still quarrel? It really puzzled him.

Li Quan snorted coldly and said, "In the past, she was a lay Buddhist in Hongfa Temple and donated money to Hongfa Temple. I don't talk about her. Half a month ago, she was fascinated by Jingguang Tathagata of Linzhi Temple and became a loyal believer of the demon nun. In less than half a month, she donated hundreds of stagnants of money to Linzhi Temple. Did she think my money was stolen?"

Li Zhen knew that the so-called Jingguang Tathagata was the old nun in Hanoi. He was brought into Beijing by Xue Huaiyi with Wei Shifang, but her reputation was even worse by Wei Shifang. Luoyang people gradually saw through her true face and called her a demon nun. Why was Aunt Meng fascinated by this demon nun?

"It's just that demon nun promised her to prolong her life! The old woman was afraid of death. When she heard that donating money could make her live longer, she was fascinated. She did all the stupid things in Dunhuang, and she still did stupid things when she went to Luoyang. I couldn't even talk about her."

"Sister, every family has a difficult sutra to recite. Think about it!"

"Well! I comfort myself like this, fortunately, the Buddha treats me well, otherwise I would never allow her to spendthrift like this."

Li Zhen didn't want to continue talking anymore. He pointed to the crowds of people in front of him and smiled: "Did everyone go to the Pure Land Temple? It's so lively today."

"You don't know! Resuming your wish on New Year's Eve is a custom in Luoyang. Of course, there are many people this year. A Zhen, let's leave after burning incense. Don't delay too long in the temple."

"knew!"

The siblings gradually approached the temple and saw a crowd of people rushing. The entire temple was filled with people coming to fulfill their wishes. The open space in front of the temple was full of carriages. It was difficult for them to find a place to store livestock.

"A Zhen, there are too many people!"

Li Quan looked helplessly at the crowds in front of the temple. When was it time for her to finish the incense? She went back to organize a shop!

Li Zhen looked around, looking for a place to store horses. At this time, he vaguely heard someone calling him, "Young Master Li! You Young Master Li!"

When Li Zhen turned around, he saw a middle-aged man running away from a distance, sweating profusely and bowed to Li Zhen, "Mr. Li, my master is welcome!"

Li Zhen looked at him and saw a rather gorgeous carriage dozens of steps away, followed by five or six horse-riding entourages. At this time, the curtains were opened, and Li Zhen saw a beautiful woman, which was Wang Qingyu, and a smile appeared on her face.

"A Zhen, who is that little girl? She is so handsome?" Li Quan also saw Wang Qingyu.

Li Zhen whispered to the eldest sister: "Sister, she is Wang Yuanbao's sister."

Li Quan was immediately surprised. It turned out to be Wang Yuanbao's sister, so she must know each other. Wang's winery is now her parents for food and clothing.

"Azhen, why don't you go up quickly? The girl is waiting for you!" Li Quan urged his brother.

Li Zhen understood the eldest sister's thoughts. He really didn't want the eldest sister and Wang Qingyu to have any business dealings, but since they met, they could only say hello.

He turned over and got off the horse, walked forward slowly, bowed and smiled, "Why is Miss Wang in Luoyang?"

After Wang Qingyu's brother Wang Yuanbao had an accident, she took on all the business of the Wang family and had been in contact with Luoyang and Chang'an. She had not seen each other for a month. She was obviously thinner than when she was in Songshan, and her jaw became sharper.

When Wang Qingyu saw Li Quan behind Li Zhen, she guessed that this person should be Li Zhen’s eldest sister. She looked rude when she sat in the carriage and spoke.

She quickly got off the carriage and smiled sweetly, "My father is in Luoyang. The New Year is coming, and the whole family is always reunited!"

Li Zhen scratched his head, "I'm right, I'm confused."

However, Li Quan secretly looked at Wang Qingyu behind Li Zhen and saw that she was as beautiful as a fairy, wearing a white fox fur coat and a golden silk skirt underneath. She had a slender figure and elegant temperament, and seemed to be more beautiful than Di Yan. She also saw her looking at her brother with a shy smile.

She immediately laughed meaningfully, coughed gently, and asked deliberately: "Azhen, who is this girl?"

...
Chapter completed!